When talking about smart animals, most people think about dolphins and elephants. It is very rare for people to think about the intelligence of a spider. However, several scientists have taken an interest in spiders and are studying various spiders to uncover how intelligent they are.
So, are spiders intelligent? Spiders are very intelligent animals, and scientists have uncovered numerous ways that the spider showcases its intelligence. Most spiders use their web for hunting prey by distinguishing the types of vibrations produced by different prey. Some spiders can learn from experience and also by watching other spiders. Some spiders can also come up with different ways of surviving, such as the diving bell spider. The diving bell spider can create a scuba suit with its web, filling it with air which helps it survive underwater.
Having an intelligent pet is perfect since you can teach it a few tricks. Spiders are small creatures and rely on their intelligence for survival. Keep reading to find out more if spiders are more intelligent than insects, if they are self-aware, and if they can show affection.
Spiders are intelligent creatures, and their way of life is enough proof that they know how to use their brain. Insects, on the other hand, are also smart, especially ants. Therefore, considering spiders are intelligent creatures, do they compare to insects?
Most spiders are more intelligent than insects. Most spiders hunt and eat insects, while bigger spiders can kill small rodents and birds. Most insects rely on numbers to survive, while spiders can make it on their own in the wild. Some spiders, such as the jumping spiders, can learn to jump on command, which can be difficult to teach an insect.
It is easy for a majority of insects to fall into the trap laid by spiders. Spiders that have poor eyesight; therefore, they rely heavily on the web to catch their prey. The spider will build a web and wait for hours until an insect gets trapped in it.
It is difficult for an insect to break free from a spider web since its struggles alert the spider, which is usually nearby. Once alerted, the spider will attack the insect by enveloping it in the web and inject it with venom, causing paralysis.
Spiders are excellent hunters, in that, some spiders can outwit their kind. A Portia spider can plan an attack and execute it with ease. Portia, a genus of the jumping spider, is widely known for its intelligent hunting skills.
Portia spiders feed on web-building spiders, and they can hunt down spiders twice their size. A Portia will approach a web and start vibrating, mimicking the vibrations of a trapped insect. It can also mimic vibrations of a male spider seeking to mate.
Portia spiders also invade the web of other spiders when there is a light breeze. The light breeze helps cover their vibrations when they are approaching the web. As soon as the other spider decides to investigate the vibrations, a Portia spider will attack and kill the spider.
Portia spiders can also think ahead and plan other routes to invading another spider’s web if there is no light breeze. Portia spiders seem to be the most intelligent of spiders because of their ability to trick other spiders.
The wheel spider found in the desert has a clever way of escaping parasitic pompilid wasps. A pompilid wasp will look for a spider and sting it, paralyzing the spider. The female pompilid wasp will then lay an egg in the spider’s body. Once the egg hatches, the larva will consume the spider.
A wheel spider will outsmart a pompilid wasp by turning itself into a ball and cartwheeling down the sand dunes. It is impossible for a spider to fight a pompilid wasp, and to avoid being turned into baby food, a spider has to be faster than the wasp.
Spiders are also good at acting. An ant-mimicking jumping spider (Myrmarachne formicaria) can perfectly mimic the appearance of ants to avoid predators. The jumping spider will walk around on all eight legs but will frequently pause and lift its forelegs to mimic an ant’s antennae. Ants move in groups and will defend themselves by biting with their strong jaws.
A predator will avoid attacking the ant-mimicking jumping spider, thinking it is an ant. The jumping spider knows that the ants rarely get attacked by predators and choose to mimic their movement to increase survival chances.
Are Spiders Self-Aware?
Spiders are very intelligent creatures. Spiders can use webs for hunting prey, detecting predators, and attracting mates. With their intelligence level well known, many people want to know if spiders are capable of being self-aware.
There is a possibility that spiders can be self-aware. Self-awareness is the ability to recognize oneself as a separate entity from the environment and other individuals. Animals with highly developed brains are self-aware, they include primates and other wild animals. Some scientists have researched spiders to determine if they are self-aware, and the results show that spiders could be self-aware.
Some researchers found a spider in the Peruvian Amazon that could build a replica body from leaves and dead parts of insects. The spider would place the replica body near a web as a decoy to predators. Wasps would then attack the decoy spider, and the real spiders would remain unharmed.
This spider is self-aware because it has to know how it looks to build a perfect replica body. The spider knows that it lives on a web, and it must build a web for the replica body. As seen from the experiment, the spider built a perfect decoy to fool wasps and other predators. However, there is still a need to conduct more research to support the argument that spiders are self-aware.
Spiders have been vilified for a long time, and many believe that spiders are out to harm them. Spiders are not aggressive and have zero interest in biting you. Most spiders want to survive through the day by avoiding predators and catching prey. So, when you are hiking in the woods and see a spider building a web, it is best to leave it alone. Its web could be the only thing protecting it from predators.
Do Pet Spiders Show Affection?
People are now keeping spiders as pets in their homes; the most popular pet spiders are the tarantulas and jumping spiders. Pets are known to provide human beings with companionship. Therefore, before getting a pet spider, you might be wondering if your new pet spider might be affectionate.
Unfortunately, spiders are not affectionate creatures. Spiders lack the brain capacity and chemicals to process and understand different emotions. Everything a spider does is for its survival. A spider uses instinct, not emotions. Most of the time, pet owners mistake their pet’s survival actions as showing affection.
Since most spiders do not feed on humans, they are always docile around their owners. Pet spiders, such as tarantulas, can be docile and would let their owners hold and pet them. Some tarantulas will also crawl on their owners’ arms when let out of their cages.
Some pet spiders do not like being handled and will either run away or bite if you try to hold them. Spiders do not bite people without any good reason; therefore, most spiders will bite you if you apply too much pressure on their bodies or destroy their habitat.
Spiders are less demanding emotionally, making them the best pet for people who live away from their homes for a long time. Since most common household pets, such as cockatiels, are demanding emotionally, you cannot leave them alone for long periods without petting or handling sessions. On the other hand, spiders do not require any petting to reaffirm your love. All you have to do is reassure your pet spiders that you do not mean any harm.
While there is no confirmed method of establishing a bond with your pet spider, one of the methods most people use to bond with their pets is hand feeding. However, spiders do not use the same method of feeding as other pets.
Spiders inject venom into their prey and wait for the venom to predigest the inside of their prey. The spiders will then suck the pre-digested juice from the prey. Therefore, it will take you a long time to hand feed your spider.
Can spiders recognize human faces? And their owners too?
Spiders are small creatures found in almost every location in the world. Currently, many people have taken an interest in spiders and are keeping them as pets. One of the best things about pet ownership is building a connection with your pet; therefore, you may be wondering if your spider recognizes your face from other people.
Most spiders cannot recognize human faces. The majority of spiders do not have good eyesight, and their brains are not geared to differentiate unique features on people’s faces. Your pet spider cannot recognize your face, but there are other ways your spider will know you, i.e., through your scent.
Spiders are interesting and intelligent, and numerous scientists are trying to understand their ways of life. Before you choose a spider as a pet, there are few things you need to know about them. Read on to find out more on whether spiders can remember your face, if they know you are looking at them, if they can see you, and why they stare at you.
Can Spiders Remember You? (Face Recognition Checked Out)
It is nice to know whether your pet can differentiate your face from other people. It is easy to achieve this with some pets, but some animals’ facial recognition skills do not come easily. When choosing a spider, you might be wondering if it might recognize your face after spending some time with it.
Spiders cannot remember your face. Some household pets can remember their owners’ faces, such as cats, dogs, and birds. The main reason cats, dogs, and birds can remember a face is their fully developed vertebrate brain. Spiders are intelligent creatures but do not have a fully developed brain to distinguish faces. A spider’s brain will perform well when planning an attack, but it cannot retain memories of its owner’s facial features.
Another reason why spiders cannot recognize faces is their poor eyesight. Most spiders have many eyes, usually between 4 to 8 eyes, which most people believe gives them perfect eyesight. However, the many eyes do not necessarily mean good eyesight, as most of them cannot see further than one foot.
Many people are above five feet in height, and your spider cannot see your face even when you are standing close to its tank. Your spider’s poor eyesight prevents it from learning all the distinct features on your face.
Spiders are small creatures, and human beings seem like a threat. It is difficult to form a close bond with a spider because most of them are not comfortable around us. For other pets, you can use food to get them close to you. However, spiders do not feed that often. You cannot use feeding time to bond with it. Some spiders will recognize the large dark figure that keeps coming near its enclosure, giving it food, and will move close to the glass whenever you approach its enclosure.
Do Spiders Know When You Are Looking at Them?
When you move close to a spider to observe it or feed it, it might stop whatever it was doing and concentrate on you. Some spiders will continue looking at you until you move away, causing most people to ask themselves how the spider knew they were looking at it.
Spiders do not know that you are looking at them. Most spiders have poor eyesight, and it will be difficult for them to see your eyes focusing on them. However, most spiders see the figure in front of them and will focus on it. Sometimes, their focus on you might appear as if they are looking at your eyes. Jumping spiders have the best eyesight among spiders, and due to their courageous nature, they will maintain eye contact with you.
Spiders are afraid of human beings and will run away or maintain their position depending on the situation. When you approach your spider’s tank, it will turn to look at you. When you move to the other side, the spider will also move its body, ensuring its eyes are focused on you.
In such a case, the spider is assessing the situation and planning its next move. As soon as you move away from the enclosure, your spider will lose interest, and, if you stay longer, your spider will maintain its position.
Can Spiders See Me?
Spiders have many eyes but are quite different from insects. Spiders have simple eyes, while insects have compound eyes. Most spiders have poor eyesight, and it might be a concern that your spider will not see you.
Spiders can see you even though it is not that clear. Due to poor eyesight, spiders cannot see far and will only see dark or fuzzy figures in front of them. This means your spider can see you but as a dark figure. Jumping spiders have better eyesight, and they can see at a higher resolution.
Jumping spiders can see more colors than human beings, which could be why they are always intrigued by their owners’ presence. If you want a spider that can see you clearly rather than a black fuzzy figure, you should get a jumping spider.
How spiders see various objects is subject to numerous researches. Many scientists want to understand how all those eyes see the world around them. So far, poor eyesight has been apportioned to the spiders that use their web for hunting prey. Some spiders that live in dark cages lack eyes completely and rely on other senses to find food or mates. Research shows spiders that actively hunt down prey, such as jumping spiders, wolf spiders, and net casting spiders, have excellent eyesight.
Just because they have poor eyesight does not mean your spider will be a clumsy pet. Most spiders are diurnal, can be active both during the day and during the night, meaning they can move very well in the dark. Spiders can also detect other animals near them through vibrations.
All spiders have little hairs on their legs and body that they use to detect movement around them. These little hairs on their body send information to the spider’s brain, and it can distinguish whether the animal close to it is prey or predator.
Most spiders use their webs to detect prey close to them. Ground dwelling spiders will spin webs close to their holes and wait until their prey triggers the web. Spiders that live on trees and walls will also spin webs to catch insects.
When a fly gets trapped in a web, its struggles will send vibrations through the web, and the spider will come to investigate and subdue its prey. Spiders can also detect objects and other animals through scent.
Why Do Spiders Stare at You?
Staring is a common behavior among spiders, especially jumping spiders. When you approach your spider’s tank, it will keep its eyes on you the entire time. There are a few reasons why your spider keeps staring at you.
Most spiders will stare at you because their eyesight is usually fixed focus. A spider will look at something moving and keep an eye on it until it moves away. The jumping spider is the most common type of spider known to maintain eye focus on its owner. Jumping spiders are very curious and have the best eyesight among the spiders. Jumping spiders find your body interesting and keep an eye on you trying to figure out what you are doing.
Sometimes, a spider will stare at you for a long time if it is frightened. Some spiders will lay eggs and stay close to them to protect them from predators. If you move close to a spider’s eggs, it will be scared that you might want to harm its eggs. The spider will stand its ground and stare at you to protect its eggs. Staring at you is one way of intimidating you.
Spiders are also intelligent animals, and they keep staring at you to access the situation and plan what to do next. Spiders view human beings as predators and keeping their eyes on their owner is the best way to survive.
Maintaining eye contact is the reason why spiders have quick reflexes. If you see a spider on your wall and move to hit, the spider will move away as fast as possible as soon as you raise your hand.
Finally
Most spiders feed on insects, and, to catch them, and the spider needs to be smarter. Some insects also prey on spiders, such as paper wasps; therefore, spiders need to be intelligent enough to escape their predator insects. This can be supported by the research conducted on a spider in the Peruvian Amazon, where it was noted to build a replica of its body on a web to mis-lead its predators.
As seen, spiders are intelligent, but, unfortunately, they cannot show you affection. Spiders use instincts to make decisions, and they can only express fear and aggression. You still can get a spider as a pet; however, the chances of cuddling with your spider are very small. You just have to enjoy your spider behind the glass.
Spiders make interesting pets. However, they cannot recognize your face. Your spider’s brain is not fully developed, making it hard for it to distinguish you from another person it has never met. Spiders have many eyes, but it cannot see objects that are more than a foot away. Therefore, if you want to keep a spider that can see you, jumping spiders is the best option.
Staring is a defense mechanism for most spiders. If your spider notices something moving, it will focus on it for a few moments to discern if it is prey or predator. Once it knows what the object is, it will either attack it or run away.
